British Environmental Policy and Europe: Politics and Policy in Transition

512

Book reviews / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 509}518

if `enchantmenta is read as reform or moderation; here it means ever deeper obsession with materialism as antidote to disenchantment. He might well have entitled the book Compulsory Consumption. Early chapters o!er overviews of consumer excesses on a global scale. Where utopian writers based human ful"llment on balanced production, consumption, and community, Ritzer has it that consumption now reigns supreme. The author explores the theoretical implications of hyperconsumption in several additional chapters, therein braiding Max Weber and Colin Campbell with strands of post modernism. Weber saw the western world abandoning precapitalist enchantment (myth and magic) for the rational disenchantment of capitalism. Coln pushes the analysis further. Enchantment reappears in the dreams and fantasies of consumerism, and religious capitalism gives way to romantic capitalism. Ritzer imaginatively extends the cycle, with disenchantment and enchantment alternating and escalating, a doublehelix of crazed consumption chasing newly marketed materialism. What keeps this treadmill going? According to the author, those who are organizing the means of consumption invent endlessly glamorous consumptive spectacles, and, when the public is surfeited, they reshu%e and recombine them to reignite demand. Examples: malls on cruise ships, theme parks in universities, web-based access to anything, anywhere, all the time. There is a strong suggestion here of Schumpeter's `creative destructiona applied to consumption rather than production. Plausible and entertaining, but speculative. More problematic, Ritzer (a well-regarded sociologist) gives no explanation for the disappearance of traditional class categories (owners and workers) and o!ers no clues as to who is behind the means of consumption. He all but universalizes his case of hyperconsumption to the global population, with little attention to the low wage labor force that turns out the glitz nor the desperately poor (combined, one-"fth of the world's population) who are lucky to barter for essentials. While concurring that race, class, and gender bar some from the cathedrals of consumption, Ritzer insists that the enchantment is universal and that growing consumer access is democratizing the planet. Tall claims for a book with no data, only theory. Still, Ritzer's theory will interest some readers. Economists committed to valuation theory will "nd hyperconsumption troubling; consumers will increasingly pay any price for commodities, suggesting that price and value are on separate tracks. Others will brood over Ritzer's theoretical critique of rational choice and the unreasonable side of reason. Globalization theorists may want to contemplate the extremes to which unquenchable consumer enchantment is separating people from local place and culture. Ethicists will take comfort in the unstartling "nding that unconstrained consumerism subverts value and authenticity and that human relation-

ships su!er when goods, services, and spectacles reign supreme. Charles Geisler Department of Rural Sociology Cornell University Ithaca, NY, USA

PII: S 0 7 4 3 - 0 1 6 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 0 5 - X

British Environmental Policy and Europe: Politics and Policy in Transition, P. Lowe and S. Ward (Eds.), Routledge, London, 1998, 326 pages, ISBN 0 415 15500 2, 0415 15501 0, hardback C50.00, paperback C16.99 This edited volume examines the e!ects of European integration on UK environmental policies and structures by analysing Britain's position in European policy making, by discussing institutional dynamics engendered through the process of Europeanisation of British environmental policy, and by highlighting the various policy debates with regard to speci"c environmental issues, concepts and instruments. The book is a very timely contribution to the increasingly important question of the UK's position on environmental policy issues within Europe. Written 25 years after the treaty for UK EC accession, and a few months after the election of the Labour government in 1997, the book provides both an important contemporary assessment of the environmental policy situation in the UK under rapidly changing processes of Europeanisation and an important baseline against which future environmental policy achievements of the Labour government can be analysed. Contributors for this book have been selected from a wide range of "elds, including academics, representatives from environmental NGOs, environmental consultants working in Brussels, civil servants, Brussels specialists with insights into EU policy negotiations, and UK representatives from local county councils and industry. This is clearly one of the major strengths of this book as it enables the reader to leave the often narrow realm of purely academic and theoretical enquiry that characterises many other books on the issue, and allows an interesting (and much needed) insight into how the UK environmental policy making process within Europe operates in practice. The book should, therefore, appeal to a wide audience including academics, students of all levels, practitioners and implementers of environmental policy. The book is comprised of "ve parts. Lowe and Ward outline the UK's &semi-detached' role in European environmental policy making in the introductory chapter

Book reviews / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 509}518

(Part 1, Chapter 1), and provide the framework for analysis for other chapters by suggesting three di!erent stages of changes in British attitudes towards EU environmental politics: a &lack of interest and insularity' from 1973 to 1983, a position of &defensiveness and isolation' between 1983 and 1992, and a &converging environmental policy agenda' since 1992. Part 2 provides a macro-level view through an in-depth analysis of Britain's position in European environmental policy making. It includes contributions by Robin Sharp (Chapter 2) who, as a former civil servant, provides an interesting personal insight into the politics of environmental policy making from a state actor's perspective. He argues that the British response to the European policy framework has shifted from an initially complacent attitude to a more proactive role. A different viewpoint is provided in Chapter 3 by Nicholas Hanley (European Commission) who analyses the role of state and non-state actors from the UK in di!erent stages of the European environmental policy process. He agrees with Sharp that the UK has increasingly adapted to Europeanisation with regard to environmental politics, emphasising the increasing willingness of various UK actors for transnational coalition building. Henry Buller's contribution in Chapter 4 adds a comparative perspective to the discussion by contrasting French and British policy-making processes. He argues that the two countries have faced a series of common Europeanisation issues (e.g. privatisation; a new &territoriality'), but that they have tackled problems di!erently because of di!erent environmental policy traditions (&internalisation' in France; &externalisation' in the UK). Buller thereby emphasises the importance of di!erent European cultural traditions and approaches for the understanding of policy making and implementation. Part 3 focuses on the impact of European integration on speci"c UK institutions. For each type of policy actor the impact of EU legislation on their roles is discussed, as well as the adaptive changes these actors have made. For example, based on results from a survey of di!erent organisations, Lowe and Ward (Chapter 5) analyse responses of three types of policy actors (environmental groups, local authorities and environmental agencies). They argue that structural consequences of Europeanisation have been clearest among environmental NGOs, although all actors have developed direct policy channels with Europe that often bypass the nation state. Tony Long (head of WWF in Brussels) takes that argument further by looking at the UK environmental lobby in Brussels. He argues that only limited amounts of resources and skills available at the national level are brought to bear on the EU policy process, although he re-emphasises the point that environmental NGOs have it easy (compared to many other actors) with regard to establishing direct policy channels with Brussels. Wynne and Waterton analyse a less &tangible' actor in Chapter 7: the European Environment Agency. They

513

discuss the role of the Agency in the co-ordination of environmental information in the EU and emphasise the importance of both public information on environmental issues and the need for standardisation of information across the EU. They argue that new forms of environmental knowledge are necessary for more successful acceptance of environmental policy by the wider public. A di!erent viewpoint is adopted by Janice Morphet (Rutland County Council) who provides an interesting UK &grassroots' perspective from local councils as key recipients of environmental policy (Chapter 8). She highlights that lobbying at the intermediate level of governance often occurs through informal networks, and that there has been relatively successful co-operation between local authorities at EU level dealing with similar environmental policy issues. At a di!erent level, Edwin Thairs (Water Services Association) analyses the impact of the Europeanisation of environmental policy on the UK water industry (Chapter 9), and argues both that specialised European industrial lobbying associations are gaining strength and that `European environmental policy has been good for British business and vice versaa (p. 169). Part 4 analyses the Europeanisation of speci"c policy "elds, including waste management, nature conservation, land use and landscape, water quality and industrial pollution. Although these do not cover the whole breadth of possible environmental issues, the reader obtains an excellent insight into how Europeanisation has changed policy debates with regard to speci"c issues. In Chapter 10, Andrew Jordan (CSERGE) analyses the impact of Europeanisation on the UK environmental administration, arguing that profound changes have taken place over the last two decades. In particular, the EU centralised responsibility for setting standards, obliged British o$cials to operate in transnational networks and encouraged more environmental monitoring. However, Jordan emphasises that there has also been a process of `mutual learninga (p. 193). Waste management as a speci"c environmental issue is discussed in detail by Martin Porter (environmental consultant in Brussels) in Chapter 11, a policy "eld that was just being established when the UK joined the EC. Porter argues that this enabled Britain to have signi"cant in#uence in shaping waste regulations. Yet, with regard to nature conservation the situation was quite di!erent (Chapter 12). James Dixon (RSPB) suggests that the UK has had di$culties in adjusting its policies to the European arena, largely because Britain already had considerable experience with these types of policies and already had a complex administration dealing with UK-speci"c nature-conservation issues. It is in this policy "eld that non-state actors (such as RSPB) had the greatest opportunity to challenge, and even by-pass, state policy trajectories by dealing directly with Brussels. The UK, nonetheless, could &export' much of its nature-conservation expertise and was instrumental

514

Book reviews / Journal of Rural Studies 16 (2000) 509}518

in shaping some of the key regulations at EU level. Related issues of land-use and landscape policies are covered by Fiona Reynolds in Chapter 13, with speci"c emphasis on the in#uence of the CAP. It is rightly argued that this policy "eld has remained the least Europeanised of all policy arenas, although there is increasing pressure to harmonise land-use and landscape policy approaches in the wake of agreements on Agenda 2000 that will place such policies at the heart of European environmental legislation in the 21st century (this chapter is rather brief, considering the wealth of issues that could be addressed). Chapter 14, by Neil Ward (CRE Newcastle) takes a critical look at water quality policy, arguing that this UK policy arena has probably been in#uenced by Europeanisation more than any other, leading to a &turbulent' and &controversial' interaction between the UK and the EU. In particular, new absolute legal standards, a &new style' in policy making and increased emphasis on monitoring have meant that traditional UK water policy approaches were often challenged at EU level (further exacerbated by privatisation of the water services leading to fundamental internal organisational changes. Finally, Jim Skea and Adrian Smith (Chapter 15) analyse UK industrial pollution control and Europeanisation. Like Ward, they argue that European pressures have led to a revision of UK policy, although Britain has also partly played a leading role in EU policy in the 1990s by having implemented a &good' national policy model upon which the EU could draw. As highlighted in the conclusions (Part 5, Chapter 16), there is almost unanimous agreement that Europe has had a profound e!ect across all environmental policy "elds, actors and institutions, and that Europeanisation has led to higher standards of environmental protection within the UK. Especially in the 1990s, the UK has shed its image of &dirty man [sic] of Europe', and can no longer be considered a &lag state' over EU environmental policy. Yet, the book also emphasises that the UK government's treatment of environmental issues has always remained a relatively minor policy sector, and that trade liberalisation has always been at the forefront of UK lobbying in Europe. As a result, EU environmental policy has often been seen by the UK government as a sector that has not required much proactive initiative (the environment has often been regarded as a &sacri"ce issue' in exchange for increased European trade liberalisation. Most authors agree that changes have occurred, particularly with an increasing harmonisation of UK policies with the European agenda, thereby supporting Lowe and Ward's notion of a &converging environmental policy agenda' since 1992 (Chapter 1). However, there is a pronounced (and interesting) di!erence in the perceived importance of Europeanisation between, for example, academic and state-related writers in the book, with the former generally more critical of the UK position than the latter (see, for example, Ward in Chapter 14 and

Sharp in Chapter 2). Yet, rather than weakening the argument in the book, this partial rift of opinion further highlights how important it is to take into account the viewpoints of a wide variety of actors, an approach that has been used to the fullest and very successfully in this edited volume (and from which many other environmental texts would also bene"t). This excellent contribution to environmental debates highlights that in today's increasingly multi-layered environmental policy processes, it is vital to incorporate the voices and opinions of the many non-state actors involved in policy making and lobbying.

Geo! A. Wilson Department of Geography King's College London,UK

PII: S 0 7 4 3 - 0 1 6 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 5 6 - X

Migration and Gender in the Developed World, Paul Boyle & Keith Halfacree (Eds.); Routledge, London 1999, 328pp., hardbound, ISBN 0415-1-7144X, @55.00. This thoroughly researched collection of essays sets out to remedy the tendency within migration studies to overlook the `interface between migration and gendera. In a comprehensive and well-referenced introductory chapter, editors Paul Boyle and Keith Halfacree draw attention to the `masculinism apparent within migration researcha and the dominance of economic factors in explaining why and where people do or do not move. Following a review of the existing literature which incorporates the roles of the home, family and waged work in gendering migration along with the impact of the state, male violence, sexuality and culture, Boyle and Halfacree provide a useful summary of the material to come which enables the reader to head for those chapters of most interest. For me, the discursive chapters in the latter half of the book (in particular, the contributions from Li and Findlay, Bondi, Ni Laoire and Phillips) which draw more on interview material and personal stories than statistics made for the most interesting reading. That is not a criticism of the more statistical chapters but rather testimony to the breadth of the book (and consequently its appeal). Indeed one of the strengths of the collection is the way in which it brings a number of di!erent methods together to explore the gendered nature of migration. Thus the book has room for contributions which adopt a mathematical modelling approach (Atkins and Fotheringham, Cooke and Bailey) as well as those which embrace more qualitative methods including questionnaires (Seavers),